1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to chairs and, more particularly, to folding chairs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to folding chairs, and the following U.S. patents are representative of some of those innovations: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,200,331; 4,613,185; 4,976,492; 5,037,116; and 5,069,503. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,503 discloses a portable, collapsible chair that has complete leg units that can selectively be folded under a seat. When the complete leg units are folded under the seat, the chair has no legs and can be used as a stadium or beach seat. On the other hand, when the complete leg units are unfolded and placed in the seat-supporting position, the chair has legs.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,503 has the advantages described above, there are also a number of disadvantages associated with this device. With this device, there is a choice between a chair with no legs and a chair with legs at a fixed height. Even at a stadium or at a beach, it may be desirable if a chair has legs of a shortened height rather than no legs at all. For example, if the stadium bench is wet, it would be desirable for the seat of the stadium chair to be elevated above a wet bench rather than be placed directly onto a wet bench. This would prevent the seat cushion from getting wet.
Another problem associated with U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,503 is that the support for arm rests is separate and distinct from supports for chair legs. For purposes of simplicity of manufacture and operation, a number of folding chairs are constructed in which arm rests and seats are supported by the same structural supports. Examples of such folding chairs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,613,185, 4,976,492, and 5,037,116. In this respect, it would be desirable if a folding chair were provided which had selectable length legs and included common structural supports for supporting both arm rests and seats.
Yet another disadvantage associated with the chair disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,503 is that each of the four legs of the chair have independent, relatively sharp feet. As a result, when using the chair and legs, all of the weight of the chair and the person sitting in the chair is concentrated on the four relatively sharp feet. Such an arrangement is not practical for soft surfaces such as a sandy beach. In this respect, it would be desirable if a folding chair were provided which included feet having a relatively large surface area to be suitable for use on soft surfaces such as a sandy beach.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,185 cited above discloses a typical class of prior art folding chairs in which common supports are used for supporting both arm rests and the seat. In such a folding chair, the common supports are oriented toward each other in a diverging manner from the arm rests to the feet. Because of this divergence, the feet are spaced apart from each other so that the center of gravity of the chair with a person sitting on it will be within the foot print of the chair legs. By having the center of gravity within the foot print of the chair legs, the chair with a person sitting in it is stable and resistant to being readily tipped over. If the legs of such a chair were shortened, then the foot print of the chair legs on the supporting surface would be considerably reduced. As a result, the center of gravity of the chair and the person sitting in the chair may no longer be within the foot print of the chair legs. If such is the case, then the chair with the person sitting in it may be very unstable and easily susceptible to being tipped over. In this respect, it would be desirable if a folding chair were provided which had shortened diverging common arm and seat supports and that is stable and resistant to being tipped over with the shortened legs.
Still other features would be desirable in a selectable height folding chair apparatus. For example, ease of selectability is an important feature. The legs should easily be selectable from a long-legged to a short-legged condition and vice versa. In addition, when the long-legged condition is selected, the lengthened legs should be strongly secured in the long-legged condition.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use folding chairs, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a selectable height folding chair apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) provides for the seat of a stadium chair to be elevated above a wet bench rather than be placed directly onto a wet bench; (2) has selectable length legs and includes common structural supports for supporting both arm rests and seats; (3) includes feet having a relatively large surface area to be suitable for use on soft surfaces such as a sandy beach; (4) has shortened diverging common arm rest and seat supports and, at the same time, is stable and resistant to being tipped over with the shortened legs in use; (5) includes legs that are easily selectable from a long-legged to a short-legged condition and vice versa; and (6) has strongly secured lengthened legs when the long-legged condition is selected. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique selectable height folding chair apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.